Let the Savings Begin ... D3 for DD

Well, I cleaned out the money from all my stock sites and gave it to Digital Brenda. Immediately after that, the one I must obey gave me permission to start saving for a D3. Another requirement she has laid on me is that I must get a job.

But, I must ask you, what is the point of getting a job, when one owns a D3? Has one not reached a great pinnacle in life when one has achieved that level of status and picture taking power? Why ... having a job would waste time one could be using the D3 to take amazing images, with no noise.

However, I guess I'll need to buy larger hard drives, and many more 16-gig storage cards. So, I guess I'll go ahead and find a few clients. Only thing is, I must give all that money to Digital Brenda too. You see, she charges me about $85,000 USD per year to live with her. She wanted this new house built back about five years ago, and so I built it. She wanted a D200, so I bought it for her. She wanted a D40, so I bought it for her (but I then got to keep the D200). She gets all my money, but she's worth it!

But, she has agreed that whatever money I can scrape together from stock sales is mine (yay), so now I can start saving for my D3.

Evidently according to one of your citizens this morning on the BBC you all have to save more and stop running expensive women Darrell. Better still send the women out to work to keep you, as is common in Europe! If we are out of work we don't buy luxury items until in work again, particularly if the item only replaces one we have still working.

This is according to one of your US financial experts on BBC radio this morning saying the US housing crisis has been caused by US citizens overspending. He said we Brits and other foreigners should be very woried because it is our savings US citizens have been spending. The American boom is being kept going on foreign money, not US citizens savings, and this was being spent on houses and cars and a fancy life style, not being invested in industry and infrastructure so you could expand production and repay your foreign debts. He claimed that bubble would eventually burst, lowering the average Americans standard of living quite considerably because US taxation would inevitably have to rise until you all learnt to cut spending and save again, so use American money.

Not my words, or that of a European but a US Financial Expert, I am just passing on the gist of his interview! I have an interest in what happens in the US as about 2/5ths of my life savings are invested in US firms! Where are all US citizens savings invested abroad?

While it is great to have the latest and greatest, I am not just at the level of my game to play in the big leagues. Still AAA ball. So with that I tend to be a generation back. When I was finally ready (and had convinced HER) to buy a digital, the S5 was hitting the market. I had used an S2, liked it, but considered the age of most of the ones out there to be too close to retirement. The S5 brought some nice S3s to the market. While my current goal is glass, ( I am thinking about the 24-120 VR) I might entertain a D200, if I can get ahead enough. So for those of you who may be contemplating the move up, there are laggers like myself are a looking upward as well.
ODNT

"Photography is man's attempt at immortality. To save our memories and share them. The places we have been, the people we have known, the things we have done. To share with others for eternity, or until the images fade away."

This is good times for people wanting to trade up, D2X(s) prices are dropping, D2H is so low its not even funny anymore, D200 are dropping, 17-35, 28-70, and 500's are hitting the market. all in all good times for people that want exelent equipment, I'm getting the D3 to replace my malfunctioning D2h, but i'm waiting 2-3 months if I can. Norwegian D3 price is almost $ 8000 USD atm , Price will drop after x-mas or so.

My stock income is not yet to the point where it will significantly contribute to a D3, but it's getting there.
My plan is but a D3 by next August. I'm going to start trying to put away $200-$300 a month for the next 11 months, which should get me most of the way there without running up a credit card. I get bonus's from work every once in a while, so I'll throw those at the fund, too.
Generally if I'm able to save about 2/3rd of the cost, the Boss will let me go ahead and get it.
But my brain is locked on D3 fever. NAS is fully engaged...

Like you, Rick, I too am terminally DAS-infected. I have convinced myself I can afford it - it's a business expense, and the sale of the D200 will offset at least half of it - all good reasons. I only run one camera at a time (although I will scoop up a D40 when they get under $300 for backup) and am moving toward pro glass as a primary goal.
Dave, I feel for you Europeans with your VAT and all - I know we've got it made with a tax-free eBay economy here and if I were in your shoes I'd be dead from NAS already. My liquid assets are sufficient to keep me going and I have invested heavily in international equity stocks (which are heavily dependent on U.S. consumers), so let's all keep spending wildly and save voraciously and everyone can buy a new Nikon!
Mule

Thing about VAT etc Mule is it helps pay for our Health Service and State Pensions amongst other things, so we do not need to pay for medical insurance, or even private pensions if we do not want. You still wind up paying for these one way or another, whether they are deducted in taxation or voluntary contributions.
That said most countries now take far too much in taxation in order to subsidise things like the arts, Olympics etc that ought to be self funding from takings at the door. These are very much non essentials which If the public want they will pay the entry charge, if not in a democracy it's their right not to subsidise them!
Dave Whiteley

Interests:My family, photgraphy, and anything having to do with motorcycles.

Posted 11 November 2007 - 10:36 PM

...
Only thing is, I must give all that money to Digital Brenda too. You see, she charges me about $85,000 USD per year to live with her. She wanted this new house built back about five years ago, and so I built it. She wanted a D200, so I bought it for her. She wanted a D40, so I bought it for her (but I then got to keep the D200). She gets all my money...

HUH??? Ok, Ill behave since Im new here but one comment...Looks to me like you tried saving money on an agent at the time of the contract negotiations!

Now, Nikon has come out with a FF sensor too. Fortunately for Nikon users, they created the FX sensor with a "gapless" microprism system on top of the sensor that promises to alleviate the light falloff issues. We'll see if it really works in practice when D3s start hitting the store shelves.

My major interest in the D3 is NOT the FF sensor. I like a DX sensor just fine. What I want from the D3 is the incredible postprocessing built right into the camera's software. They claim that the noise we have all come to hate will not show its ugly head any longer. In fact, Nikon claims usable ISO ratings above 25000!

As a stock shooter, I am constantly battling noise in my images. I always need greater dynamic range too. My greatest interest in the D3 (or the D3X) will be much less noise, and significantly greater light range. As far as the FX sensor, well, I really could care less about it. I wrote a new article recently about the differences in the FX and DX sensors. It explains that the DX sensor is NOT a crop of a FF sensor, but actually is a different format entirely. Here's the article:

One of the things I'm looking forward to is the FX sensor, I love wide-angle lenses, and finally my 17-35 is that.. 17-35 and not 25.5-52.5mm This goes for most of my lenses, I find my 55mm f/1.2 not wery usefull on a DX camera, as I'm not a portrait shooter. I would not have upgraded if the D3 was another D2X type camera, as going beyond 12MP is not something I need. My D2H files was more then enough for me.
90% of the prints I sell is from the D2H printed on 13x19in Velvet fine art paper, 18% is from the D1X and about 2% from the D200, so MP is not that important to me.

Hasn't been an update to this thread in a while, so I'll thow in my update.
I'm on the waiting list at Berger Brothers for a D3, with a target date of March or April at the latest.
I'm about half-way saved for the D3, and should be all way there by March.
I'm upgrading from a D200, so why go for the D3 rather than the D300? Well, like Darrell, I'm constantly battling noise. I'm looking forward the flexibility of using ISO as another independent variable, along with shutter speed and aperture. Being able to shoot high shutter speed with small aperture in low light, will be a dream come true!
Since I'm not a full-time professional, just a fledgling part-timer, the D3 is a big investment. But even my wife agrees the D3 is a good investment to take me where I want to do. And I'll still have my trusty D200 as backup!
So what's Darrell's status? Still saving for a D3???

Evidently according to one of your citizens this morning on the BBC you all have to save more and stop running expensive women Darrell. Better still send the women out to work to keep you, as is common in Europe! If we are out of work we don't buy luxury items until in work again, particularly if the item only replaces one we have still working.

This is according to one of your US financial experts on BBC radio this morning saying the US housing crisis has been caused by US citizens overspending. He said we Brits and other foreigners should be very woried because it is our savings US citizens have been spending. The American boom is being kept going on foreign money, not US citizens savings, and this was being spent on houses and cars and a fancy life style, not being invested in industry and infrastructure so you could expand production and repay your foreign debts. He claimed that bubble would eventually burst, lowering the average Americans standard of living quite considerably because US taxation would inevitably have to rise until you all learnt to cut spending and save again, so use American money.

Not my words, or that of a European but a US Financial Expert, I am just passing on the gist of his interview! I have an interest in what happens in the US as about 2/5ths of my life savings are invested in US firms! Where are all US citizens savings invested abroad?

This is so right Dave. I was raised by parents who suffered through the depression and was taught to save. This nation has forgotten how to do that, plus buying on credit is common place. If I can't pay for it, let it go back--amazingly this doesn't damage their credit to the point that they cannot buy on credit again. There is so much Saudi and Chinese money in this country that even persons with poor minus credit can get a loan. It may be at a higher interest rate but they don't care because they don't intend to pay the item off anyway. What is to follow is a true story.

A neighbor's grand-daughter changes cars (used cars) like I change my socks. She "buys" a car with the intention of never paying for it. She makes a couple of monthly payments, then stops. She knows it will take the "dealership" six months to process the paper work to actually take the vehicle back. Here is the "kicker" the "punch line", she is so confident that this is will be the case that SHE NEVER BUYS TAG for the car but uses the "dealer tag".

The prevailing sentiment in this country is: I don't have to pay for it, some one will bail me out and the best example of this attitude is our Government.